Gundam Fight 14: The Shield of Light
by SeraphicRadiance
Summary: As the 14th Gundam Fight approaches, all of the colony prepare their fighters for a chance to become the King of Gundams and ruler of space. However, a new participant has joined and has thrown the Fight into chaos. Can he win?
1. Prologue

_**Disclaimer**_

**I don't know where or how often I should say this, but I do not own the Gundam series nor the character therein. The characters I create are original, but that's it. Either way, enjoy and don't be afraid to review.**

**Prologue**

The 13th Gundam Fight drew to a close with Neo Japan's Domon Kasshu coming out victorious, not only of the Gundam Fight but over the Dark Gundam as well. However, when the dust cleared, most of Neo Japan's ruling body was destroyed due to their influence from the Dark Gundam. After meeting with the Gundam Fight Regulatory Committee, it was decided that Domon himself would become the head of Neo Japan, with the rest of the Shuffle Alliance as advisors. Now, the date is F.C. 64, four years have passed since that day and the 14th Gundam Fight is about ready to get underway. Every colony prepares their Gundam and sends it to Earth, each hoping to gain the title of Champion. However, this year's Fight is already proving to be interesting, as something unprecedented has happened that has never before occurred in the history of the Gundam Fight.

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"I can't believe you're actually allowing this, Domon!" Chibodee yells as he slams his fist against the table. Domon sits calmly at the head of the table, taking notice of Chibodee Crocket's outburst but not doing much about it.

"There's nothing in the rules saying that they can't participate in the Gundam Fight, so I don't see why we shouldn't allow them to go ahead." Domon calmly explains to Chibodee, however fruitless it may be.

"Yeah, but they're using the Shining Gundam that you left behind as a base for their Gundam Fighter, doesn't that upset you?" George asks, trying to raise the same point that Chibodee was making. Domon just shakes his head, "They contacted me for permission to use the Shining Gundam a year after the Gundam Fight had ended. I had basically forgotten about it after I used the Burning Gundam for a while, so I decided that someone might as well make use of it."

"Can they really rebuild it into fighting shape by the time the Fight starts, even if they had three years?" Argo poses as the next question on the agenda. Once again, Domon only shakes his head as he replies, "I really don't know, that's just something we'll have to find out for ourselves."

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"Man, this unit is a pain in the- Argh!!!" comes a shout from inside of giant, humanoid-shaped robot. A loud clank follows afterwards, which soon is joined by a chorus of colorful words that seemed to flow in almost unheard of phrases.

"It can't be that bad, Max, besides you're the one who wanted to rebuild the Shining Gundam like this. I mean, the new design is awesome, but wouldn't have been better if we had just rebuilt it to the original specs?" The question was asked by a slender red-head sitting at a console, checking up on the data being fed to her from the Gundam's systems. Max Harper's head pops out of the cockpit area with a disgusted look on his face. His growl is audible as he rubs his hand through is gray hair; he hated having his genius questioned, even if it was his assistant.

"I told you before, Kimberly, this design is meant to increase the Shining Gundam's overall performance tenfold. That would be true, if it wasn't for all these black box components in this forsaken thing! I mean, I haven't even found the data on its signature move yet!" Kimberly Chidori shook her head and brushed some hair away that had fallen into her vision. "I know, you would think that it would be completely integrated with the combat system, but there's no record of it existing at all. It's weird, if you ask me."

Max's growl was again audible as he pondered over the many mysteries of the Shining Gundam. He knew his new design for the unit was genius, if it wasn't for the black boxes within the systems. In fact, the unit was basically done and ready for combat in the 14th Gundam Fight and it would be his shining creation fighting for the Earth. His Shield that would fight for the freedom of everyone left on Earth. The Shield Gundam…


	2. Chapter 1

**Note: For those who have already read this story, I made a blunder. After looking back through the G Gundam series, I stumbled on the fact that I accidentally named my Neo Mexico fighter _exactly_ the same as the Neo Mexico fighter in G Gundam… oops. Anyways, I fixed the name issue and are proceeding smoothly with the rest of the story.**

**Chapter 1**

Lance Traydor sits quietly in a bar on the outskirts of, what was once, New York City. Over the past years, each and every Gundam Fight had taken more of a toll on the Earth's remaining populace. No lives were lost, but many buildings that housed the remnants of Earth's population have been destroyed and re-destroyed. As he nurses his next round of whiskey, he thinks of this year's Fight and how he was going to be the one fighting for Earth's freedom. Many thoughts crossed his mind, most prevailing was could he actually do this? The roar of jet engines outside drew his attention off of his drink and towards the outside. He knew those engines…. Just then, a man with auburn hair and a greasy jumpsuit stepped into the bar.

"Yo, Lance, I knew I'd find you here!" He shouted towards the blonde-haired man at the bar, who returned his greet with a hand wave, inviting him over. The man accepted and made his way to the bar, ordering a scotch on the rocks. After receiving his drink, he occupied a bar stool next to Lance.

"Didn't expect you to come out this far, Gregory, much less in the Core Lander." Lance commented as he nodded towards the outside.

"Yeah, well, I couldn't bring the truck for two reasons: one, it would have been a longer trip with it to go overland; and two, Doc Harper wouldn't have been very happy if I started moving the truck while he was fondling over his precious Gundam." Gregory Maxwell shot back with a grin, which earned a slight grin and a scoff from Lance.

"The Gundam… you know we're not gonna win very many people over with that thing…." Lance murmured out loud, gazing aimlessly at his drink.

"What are you talking about?" Gregory retorted, "With the Shield Gundam, we'll enter in this forsaken fight and win the title. With that, we might just be able to stop those wackos in space from destroying our planet!"

"I know our ideals, but…" Lance sighed as he looked into his drink some more, "It's the Gundam itself, the people will think the only reason we ever win is because it's the Shining Gundam, not because of our skills."

"No way, the Shield Gundam is totally different from that relic, we'll earn our respect and the colonies will have to notice us!"

Lance scoffed again and swigged his drink down, "All we did in the way of 'improvements' is swap out a couple of basic armor pieces, add some new weaponry, and completely overhaul the chest section, cockpit, and Core Lander. It may be different, but underneath, it's still the Shining Gundam."

Gregory shook his head at Lance's comment. Lance had always looked at the downside of things once he got drinking, though his words have seemed even more down the closer the Gundam Fight drew. Gregory, however, was more of an optimist than Lance, though only about their chances at winning, not at the thought of the fight itself. He had once been a fan of the Gundam Fight, mostly for the action that was portrayed between the combatants. He only realized the true horror of the battles when one took place in his own hometown. When all was said and done, his hometown was nothing but a shadow of what it once was. Ever since, he's only looked upon the fight as a barbaric way to determine someone else who could lord over everyone.

Gregory's thought process was cut short as his phone on his belt began to ring. "Hello? Uh-huh… yeah, he's right here. Uh-huh…. Okay, we'll get there as soon as we can." Gregory hung up and looked toward Lance. "Looks like the Doc wants to run a few tests, so we've got to get over there ASAP."

Lance nodded and headed out the door, followed by Gregory as soon as he topped off his freshly ordered drink. Once they both were in, Lance brought the Core Lander to life and sped off towards the Nevada Desert, where the tests were going to be done.

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"Okay, Lance, try a roundhouse." Max said into his headset.

"10-4," Lance replied from inside the Gundam's cockpit. The cockpit was spherical in design, leaving plenty of room for the pilot to move but there were no handheld controls. Instead, the pilots wore a skintight, nanotechnology-based suit known as the Mobile Trace System. With the suit, the body's movements were converted into commands for the Gundam, which led to the Gundam performing the exact same movement. The Gundam preformed a roundhouse kick intended to go over a rocky precipice it was aiming for, but instead the kick went through it. The Mobile Trace System had a drawback, as anything that connects with the Gundam was felt by the pilot. The Gundam knelt down and started rubbing his ankle, in response to the same movement preformed by Lance.

"Lance, are you okay?" Kim's voice said over the radio.

"Yeah," Lance replied as he stood up, "Looks like the Trace System is still a little off, we'll need some more adjustments to it." An audible growl was heard over the radio and Lance knew that his words had struck a nerve with Max, as he had spent the whole previous night working with the Mobile Trace System. Lance shrugged it off and started throwing punches to test the reaction time between his and the Gundam's movements. To his surprise, the movements were almost in sync, as the Gundam punched a split-second after he threw his punch. He went for a high kick and the Gundam followed suit, though its leg didn't reach near the height his kick did.

"Looks like the height ratio on the lower section is off a bit," Max commented through his headset, "Hold on, I'll try and get it up." Max's fingers flew across his keyboard as he worked on the algorithm for the Trace System. Once he completed his work, he asked Lance for another high kick, which to his delight, the Gundam reached the same height as Lance's kick.

"Alright," Lance commented through his comm line. "Looks like most of the systems are working properly. I'd say that the test was a success."

"Looks that way…. Alright, Lance, pack it up and we'll call it a day for now." Max replied through his headset, which got a nod from the Gundam and started its approach towards the base camp.

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"We've still got to work out most of the black box components, but the Shield Gundam should be ready for competition." Max commented as he sipped on his coffee. The rest of the crew either nodded attentively, as Gregory and Kim did, or shrugged, as Lance did.

"I still don't see how we're gonna win if the finisher is still locked up…." Lance threw back at Max, still eyeing the Shield Gundam with uncertainty. Max let one of his audible growls as a response, attempted to let Lance know that he was messing with his baby, and no one messes with Max's baby. Lance shrugged slightly, but soon withdrew his attention as headlights began to approach their location. The rest of the crew soon followed suit as the gray colored, Hummer-like vehicle slowed to a stop near them and a tall, tan-skinned man got out from the driver's side. He approached the wary watchers with a grin and hands held out to the side as a peace gesture.

"That's a nice lookin' Gundam you've got there." He nodded towards the towering blue-on-white robot. Lance narrowed his eyes at the stranger, which was returned with a chuckle. "I'm sorry, where are my manners, I'm Clodoveo Vazqeuz, Gundam Fighter of Neo Mexico. I noticed your camp set up over here and decided to pay my respects to you and your team."

He broke off conversation before anyone could reply and started investigating the Gundam, looking it over from top to bottom. Once he was satisfied, he returned back to the watching crew, "Might be changed a little, but this is definitely the Shining Gundam used in the last Gundam Fight by Neo Japan." He turned to look over the crowd he was talking to and raised an eyebrow, "Funny, you guys don't look Japanese…."

Lance scoffed slightly and shot a look towards Gregory, who looked away knowing that he had just been proven wrong. After putting Gregory in his place, Lance got up from his seat and approached the Mexican fighter, "Sorry, you never gave us the chance to introduce ourselves, my name is Lance Traydor and this is my crew: Gregory Maxwell, Kimberly Chidori, and Max Harper. The reason we don't look Japanese is because we're not, save for Kim, but she is only of Japanese descent."

Clodoveo eyed the blonde-haired man warily before he replied, "Well, if you're not of Neo Japan, then why do you have the Shining Gundam?"

"I was getting to that; we are using the Shining Gundam as a base for our Gundam, the Shield Gundam. You see, we're the Earth team that will be taking place in…."

Lance cut himself off as he watched the Mexican double over with laughter, "Earth Team?! That's a good one; no one on Earth knows how to even build a Gundam, much less pilot one. What makes you think you guys even have a place here?"

Lance adopted his cocky pose and pointed to Clodoveo, "Why don't we have a Gundam Fight, and you'll see what we're made of!"

"Sounds good to me, come on out, Hombre Gundam!!"

Clodoveo turns his back to the crew and watches as his Gundam bursts out of a mountain and stands ominously over the landscape. As his Core Lander comes to pick Clodoveo up, Lance turns and dashes towards the cockpit of the Shield Gundam, bypassing the rest of his crew, who had looks of excitement on their faces except for one.

"Um, I don't think having a fight now is a good idea, Lance…" Gregory blurted out as Lance passed him by.

"What are you talking about, Greg?" Max exclaimed in anticipation, "This is the perfect time for a fight! Come on, let's get to the command truck!" The crew entered the truck sitting nearby and started driving away as the cockpit of the Shield Gundam closed. Inside, Lance activated the Mobile Trace System, which brought down a machine which covered him with the Trace suit. Once ready, he moved the Shield Gundam up to its feet and got into his fight stance at the same time his opponent did.

"Hope you're ready for this, boy. I'm going to show you how true Gundam Fighters battle," came the voice of Clodoveo from the external speaker in the Hombre Gundam. Lance merely shrugged at the words, causing his Gundam to do the same thing. He positioned himself further into his fighting stance, "Here we go, Gundam Fight, ready…"

"GO!!!"


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"Gundam Fight, Ready, GO!!!" Both challengers yelled in unison. With the gauntlet thrown, the two fighters charged towards each other with all thrusters flaring. In the middle of the battlefield, the competitors clashed hands and started a test of strength.

"Give it up, Earth fighter, you're puny mech is no match for the power of my Gundam!" Clodoveo yells over his external speaker to his opponent. Lance smirks silently in his cockpit, still able to keep equal footing with the Hombre Gundam. Without warning, the Shield Gundam pulls its arms aside, taking the Hombre's arms with it. Having opened a vulnerable spot, the Shield Gundam puts a foot on the Hombre's chestplate, activates its leg thrusters, and performs a somersault kick to the opponent's chin, causing him to stagger back.

"Damn you, you'll pay for that!" Clodoveo yells in frustration and opens fire with his head vulcans. Lance puts his arms up and lets the Gundam's armguards take most of the hits from the bullets.

"Don't block like that, Lance, you're scratching the paint on it!" Max yells over the comm line. Lance growls slightly and shoots back, "You want to get in here and fight for me?!" A growl could be heard, but Lance knew he had gotten the answer he was looking for. With that distraction done, Lance activated his thrusters and propelled himself out of the line of fire, ducking behind a mesa. He could hear his opponent moving towards his location, obviously thinking that he was pinned down. Reaching behind himself, he removes two Beam Pistols set on the Core Lander and brings them up so that they are ready to fire.

"What's wrong, are you afraid to face me, Earth-dweller?!"

"You wish…" Lance mumbles to himself, placing his fingers over the triggers. "Alright, here we go… 1, 2, 3!" The Shield Gundam jumps out from behind the mesa, bringing both barrels point-blank to the temple of the Hombre Gundam's head.

"Hope you've said your prayers, cause this is the end of you!!!" Lance pulls the triggers of both Beam Pistols. However, instead of feeling the satisfaction of recoil and watching two pink-purple beams shooting through the opponent's head, he gets a small, light-pink flash at the end of both barrels and warning screens on both sides of him telling him he's out of ammo.

"What the hell?!" Lance yells into his comm line as he jumps away from the Hombre Gundam before it can retaliate. He moves away from his opponent and ducks behind some more cover, waiting to see if anyone had any answers for him. Soon enough, one came….

"Yeah, that's why I said it wasn't a good idea…" Gregory voice came over the comm line, in almost a terrified whisper. "I know I was told to set the Core Lander to charge the weapons last night, but I… uh… heh… kinda forgot."

"WHAT?!!" Lance and Max exclaimed almost instantaneously. The fury of the two men caused Gregory to shudder at the thought of what he was in for after the match was through, whether they won or lost.

"Does this mean that I don't have any weaponry?!" Lance yelled angrily through his end of the comm line, hoping Gregory would reply so that he could reach through whatever speaker his voice came out of and rip his head off. Instead, he got Kim on the line, who he couldn't get mad with since she hasn't done anything to cross him since they've known each other. "It looks that way, Lance. Max said that after he's done with Gregory, he'll try and find some way to get you power for a weapon."

"Oh great, and what am I supposed to do until then?"

"Just hold him off. Don't worry, you're a good fighter, I'm sure you'll think of something."

"Great," Lance mumbles to himself as he activates a view screen to look around the edge of his cover mesa. To his dismay, the Hombre Gundam was on definitive search-and-destroy, which spelled bad news for him because now the opponent was going to take this match a lot more seriously. Lance sighs angrily as he puts the pistols back on the Core Lander. "Looks like I'm gonna have to do this the old-fashioned way."

Lance pops the Shield Gundam out of his cover and starts rushing the Hombre Gundam, who was visibly shocked that his Earth opponent was once again on the attack after his previous failed attempt. Lance spins his body and goes for a roundhouse kick to the Hombre's temple, but his opponent recovered from his shock quickly and stepped back to avoid it. Right as Lance's foot hits the ground, his chest flares up with pain as the Hombre Gundam drove his fist into the Shield's chest. This soon is followed by a backhand to the side of the Shield's head, sending it staggering to the side.

"You think you're hot stuff because of that sneak attack, _ese_. Well, see how you handle this!" Clodoveo roars over his speaker as he pulls out a cactus-like mace. As he swings towards the Shield Gundam, Lance side-steps to narrowly avoid the mace and deliver a quick rising knee to the head of the Hombre Gundam. After staggering back, the Hombre swings its mace horizontally, however too predictably, as Lance jumps aside, letting the mace whiz by harmlessly.

"Heh, is that all you got with that puny mace of yours? I'm almost embarrassed for you!" Lance taunts over his external speaker. "Oh, you haven't seen anything yet, _amigo_," came the reply from Clodoveo. Almost as soon as Lance was ready to snap back, the Hombre swung it's mace forwards, this time sending the spikes out connect to the base by beam chains. As the spikes propelled towards the Shield Gundam, Lance sidestepped carefully to avoid being struck by one. However, predicting his movements, the Hombre shifts his swing to a horizontal swipe; bringing the chains fiercely into the side of the Shield Gundam. Once the chains were connected to the Shield's sides, the Hombre recalled the spikes, causing the chains to rub against the Shield Gundam's side, causing a slight amount of discomfort. However, the spikes were able to rip through the Gundam's side, sending a wave of pain over Lance's side, causing him to go down to one knee.

"Too bad for you, _amigo_, but I'm going to have to finish you off now. Better luck next time, loser!!" The Hombre Gundam begun to spin the chains around above his head, gathering velocity that could allow the spikes to tear easily through any Gundam. Lance tried to get up for his knees, but the shock of pain in his side was still fresh and he wasn't able to move properly. He knew avoiding it was out of the question. "Tequila Tempest!!" Clodoveo shouted out the name of his Gundam's signature technique as he swung his spikes down towards the Shield Gundam, ready to slice it to ribbons. Lance instinctively put his hands up to catch the spikes, but he activated the Shield Gundam's trump cards hidden underneath the armguards. The spikes continue on their path, only to be stopped a few inches away from their intended target by a small disc-shaped wall of light.

"What the hell is that?!" Clodoveo exclaimed in surprise as his spikes slid off of the wall. Slowly, the Shield Gundam stood, gripping its side. "Like it, do you?" Lance asked of Clodoveo over his external speaker, "There's a reason we named it the Shield Gundam. Underneath the armguards are little shield generators that can develop an invisible barrier over the hands. Also, if I needed to, I have a stronger shield is the chest section that can cover the whole body, but I can't move when I'm using that."

"Impressive," Clodoveo commented back, "but it won't save you every time!" Clodoveo roared triumphantly as he swung the spikes towards the Shield Gundam again. This time, Lance only activated the left hand shield to block, since the attack no longer had the same velocity as the Tequila Tempest and, therefore, wasn't near as strong. After successfully blocking the second attack, Lance started to back off from the Hombre's advances, barely staying outside of the range of its furious swipes.

"Lance, I've got a weapon ready for you," Max called out over the comm line. "It's about time," Lance shot back, irritated after taking that shot on the side, "So, what have you got for me?"

"It's not much…" Max stated matter-of-factly, "I've given you two minutes of usage on the Double Hyper Hammer. I can't give you more without taking the Shield Gundam offline, like Gregory _should have_ done. Also, if you use it, it will take off the two major thrusters on the Core Lander, making you less maneuverable."

"It's a chance I'm gonna have to take," Lance said as he reached back for the handle over the left shoulder of the Shield Gundam. Once he pulls it free, he launches the two ball thrusters on the sides of the Core Lander. At the same time, he activates the beam chain and connects the two ends to the ball thrusters, successfully completing the Double Hyper Hammer. Once done, he begins to spin the weapon over his head, creating an almost helicopter-like affect. "Now this is something I can use," Lance commented to himself. The Hombre stopped dead in its tracks as the Shield Gundam activated its weapon, which was now twirling proudly over its head. Once enough momentum was gathered, he launched one of the Hammers out towards the Hombre Gundam's chest, which was easily avoided. However, the second Hammer was launched just after the first and connected right along the Gundam's faceplate, snapping its head to the side and dropping it to the ground.

The Hombre slowly got to its feet, only to be knocked back down by one of the Hammers into its chest. Lance twirled the Hyper Hammers over his head, taking pride at the fact that he had just turned this match back into his favor. "Now," Lance stated over his speaker, "It's time to end this fight." The Shield Gundam swung the weapon forward, grabbing one of the Hammers to keep in case he missed, but let the other one sail downward towards the Hombre Gundam's head in an attempt to crush it. However, during the course of the flight, the beam chains gave out as their two minutes had been used up. One ball hit the ground near the Shield Gundam, the other sailed into the Hombre Gundam's face, connecting on it and bouncing off harmlessly.

"Damn it!" Lance yelled as his head of steam was suddenly cut short. He had taken too long and spent too much time in his own glory that he ended up hurting himself in this fight. Now, once again, he had no weapon to use and a mad-as-hell Hombre Gundam getting to its feet.

"Not bad, _amigo_, but you need to spend a little less time gloating!" Clodoveo yelled over his speaker as he picked up his mace. Lance started backing off, showing that he was basically out of options.

"Oh man, I've got nothing left, the only weapon I had is now two balls sitting uselessly on the landscape." Lance complained to himself in a whisper. He looked around for anything he could use, and then his eyes hit the ball lying next to him.

"Max, the handle should still be inside the thruster now that the beam has deactivated, right?" Lance asked over his comm line.

"Yeah, the handle's there when the ball thruster is launched off and stays until the thruster reconnects with the Core Lander, why?"

"Cause I have a crazy idea that might end this fight," Lance replied as he picked up the ball. Once he had it in his hands, he slipped it over his right hand, gripping the handle within that connects to the beam chain.

"I've only got one chance to make this work, so I've got to get this right!" Lance charged forward on what few thrusters he still had. The Hombre Gundam was busy spinning its weapon over its head, preparing for another Tequila Tempest, to mount a counterattack. The Shield Gundam punched the Hombre in the face, taking it down and causing it's attack to sail wildly the opposite direction.

"Hey _amigo_, looks like I'm not the one losing here," Lance taunted as he positioned the ball right in the middle of the Hombre Gundam's face. "In accordance with Article 1 of the Gundam Fight International Rules and Regulations, a Gundam with its head section destroyed is disqualified, and you're in for one hell of a disqualification." With his gloat over, he twisted his hand, activating the special attack of his Hyper Hammer. The ball opened up four clockwise-facing thrusters on the outside of the ball, which started to flare up in anticipation of the main thruster going off. The Shield Gundam withdrew its hand from the ball just in time to avoid the main thruster igniting, which set off the four smaller thrusters, causing the ball to start drilling into the Hombre's face, scattering debris and head shards across the landscape. Lance stood nearby and wonder what exactly kind of pain Clodoveo was feeling at this point due to the Mobile Trace System, cause that attack had to not feel very good. The ball finished its job rather quickly, leaving nothing but debris from where the Hombre Gundam's head once stood. However, with nothing to stop it, the ball began to spin wildly across the landscape, coming to a stop 15 minutes later about 5 miles away from where the Gundam Fight took place.

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"Not bad, _amigo_," Clodoveo said as he shook Lance's hand, using the other hand to hold his head, which was still aching after the impromptu finisher that had been used on him, "I lost to a better man, and I can't make any excuses for that."

"Hey, you almost had me," Lance replied with a grin, "I was only lucky enough to come up with that strategy near the end of the match."

"Sure, well, I've got to head back to Neo Mexico now, so good luck in the Fight." Clodoveo released Lance's hand and strolled off to where the officials of Neo Mexico and his defeated Gundam were waiting. Lance also returned to his crew, who were waiting with cheers of celebration for their first official victory.

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"That was one hell of a match; I'm surprised we actually won!" Gregory exclaimed, holding his flask high in celebration.

"Yeah, it surprised me too, which reminds me…." Lance stood from where he was sitting in the carrier truck and punched Gregory hard in the back of the head, knocking him to the ground. "That's for not having the weapons ready! That fight could've been over in minutes if you hadn't been an idiot," Lance yelled at him, actually going easy on him since he was still incredulous that he had actually won.

Max walked down from where the Shield Gundam lay in the storage area, which was preceded by one of his trademark audible growls. Lance and Gregory both looked his way, curious as to why he wasn't still working on the Gundam.

"Hey, how the Shield Gundam doing?" Lance asked Max, trying to break the tension in the air. Max's head snapped towards him in anger, and he started marching towards the Gundam fighter in a rage.

"How's it doing?!" Max exclaimed it a fit, "There's three tears along it's side, the left ball thrusters' paint job is completely ruined and the armguards have little dings in them from your incompetent blocking job! It's gonna take me days to repair the damage that's been done, thanks to your overconfidence!"

"It won't take that long, Max," Kim shouted joyously as she entered the carrier truck. "I just got off the line with some freelance Gundam mechanics that are here on Earth! They saw our fight with Neo Mexico and are willing to offer us their services!" Max looked in disbelief then ran to hug Kim and tell her what a genius she was for doing something like that.

"Well, that takes care of that problem," Gregory commented, rubbing the back of his head. "So, now what do we do? After we pick up the mechanics, what happens after that?"

"Guess we need to look for the next fight, Greg." Lance replied calmly. "We can't just sit here and wait for fights to come to us. We've got to get out there and get into the fray, prove that we belong in this year's Gundam Fight. After all, this is only the beginning for us."


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Lance looked over the Australian landscape with a hidden interest; he had never been outside of American soil, other than a visit to the Neo American colony. His eyes watched everything that passed him by, even though a vast majority of the splendor was lost due to the Gundam Fight.

"Amazing place, isn't it?" Kim asked as she entered the living area of the carrier truck. Lance's eyes darted towards her from his place on one of the small gray bunks that line the passageway between the cab and the Gundam storage area. He hadn't known anyone would be on this truck other than Gregory, who was the driver. He sat up in his bunk, allowing Kim a place to sit down, which she accepted and gazed out the window.

"I've been here once before," she started as they both watched the scenery pass by, "When I was a kid, my father came here on a business trip that I was allowed to come on. I have to admit, the place wasn't in this much disarray back then…." Her eyes softened noticeably, she had always been one who enjoyed beautiful scenery more than anyone else. Lance decided on a topic change, but he could only come up with the topic that surrounded both of them currently.

"So, why did you decide to become part of the Shield Gundam's crew, Kim?" Lance asked, which drew a surprised look from Kim. She hadn't realized she never talked about the Gundam Fight with him before; she looked back out the window, trying to think of her answer. In all honesty, she had never thought of it herself. After the last Gundam Fight, she was a student at a university in Pennsylvania, and one of her teachers was Max Harper. She was majoring in software programming and was one of the few who actually excelled at it, which drew Max's attention. One day, Max just pulled her aside and brought up a secret project that he had been working on for the past year. He had said he needed an expert programmer to help him in completing it within the next three years. She had accepted, since she had been seeking a way to challenge her skills, and that's how she became part of, what was then, a 3-man team. She never really had a reason, had no ideals to fall back on as to why she was here, just the fact that she liked working here. She smiled brightly as she replied, "I like working here."

"That's it?" Lance retorted, raising an eyebrow.

"Yep!" She shot back jokingly. Lance shrugged, deciding not to press the matter further, since he probably wasn't going to get a straight answer anyways.

"So, why did you join, Lance?" Kim shot the question back at him, since they were on the topic. Now it was his turn to think, he never really had a reason in the first place. He liked to watch the Gundam Fights, but never was really interested in it. He had studied martial arts since he was a kid under one of the greatest fighters he knew of. He entered a tournament, which he won, and next thing he knew, Max and Kim were standing near the winner's area with a proposition to be their fighter for the Gundam Fight. He accepted, mostly because he wouldn't turn down a challenge to face some of the world's greatest fighters.

"I…" Lance started to say when the truck came to an abrupt stop, after which Gregory poked his head into the living area and said, "We're here."

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Lance moved the Shield Gundam carefully out of the holding bay, making sure he didn't crush any of the new recruits that had joined. Most of them were mechanics who could work on the Gundam, but some were only there for the sheer joy of being part of a Gundam team. He got the Gundam up to its feet and looked towards the ground.

"So, what are we working on today?" Lance questioned through his comm line.

"We're gonna try to get the special attack up and running, is that okay?" Max replied grumpily on the other end.

"Have you even unlocked it from its black box yet?" Lance shot back, angry that this was the only reason he had to get in the cockpit.

"No, that's why this experiment is so important, so stop complaining and get to work!" Max countered, his anger level slowly rising. Kim could be heard in the background trying to calm him down. If anyone could make someone feel better, it was her. Lance sighed and moved his right hand up near his forehead, trying to focus on the special attack that dwelled within the Gundam. He knew how to visualize it, he had seen the Shining Gundam use it before, he just needed to make it happen. For what seemed like hours, Lance focused his entire being into making the attack work, but to no avail.

"Do I need to use the same saying that Domon used when he activated it. It was 'This hand of mine glows with an awesome power' or something like that…." Lance finally said, breaking the silence that was dominating the area. On the other end, he could hear Max stomping around the command truck, calling Lance useless and various other statements of the same nature.

"Well, I guess that means we're done," Kim finally said over the comm line, "Good work, Lance."

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Lance sighed as he looked up at the Shield Gundam, knowing full well that if he couldn't access the latent abilities of the machine, this team was pretty much doomed before they even got off the ground. Sure, they won a match, but it could have just as easily been a fluke.

"Looks like you've got a lot on your mind," a soft voice coming from behind said, almost causing Lance to jump. He turned to find Kim staring back at him with her empathetic blue eyes.

"I feel like I'm letting the team down, I just can't seem to work this thing on par with the specs…" Lance commented with a sigh. Kim walked up beside him, staring at giant humanoid suit that loomed over them both. She knew what he was thinking, cause for a while, she had been thinking the same thing. She shook her head and looked over at Lance, "We all know you're trying your best, Lance. No one could do this any better that you can. Even Max recognizes it, he just wishes he could see his creation at it's maximum capabilities."

Lance looks over at her, a bit surprised that she was talking this openly about something she hardly ever talked about. Kim returns his glance with a smile and continues, "We're all trying our best to get the Shield Gundam working to it's best, all we can ask of each other is to give it our best. That's really all we can expect of you, to give your best." She giggles a little and walks in front of Lance, smiling brightly, "So how about this, if you never give up, then neither will we, sound good?" Lance smiled back and gave her a nod, signifying that he was willing to go along with the deal. She smiled bigger than before, showing that she was happy with his acceptance. She leaned in closer to Lance, looking him directly in the eye. "You never told me, why did you join the Gundam Fight, Lance?"

"I…." was as far as he got again before the sound of footsteps could be heard behind him. He turned around to a slim looking man with a bush hat and brown hair standing there, looking at them.

"G'day mates, my name's Chandler Wallace, the Gundam Fighter for Neo Australia. I take it you blokes are the Neo Japan team, since that appears to be the Shining Gundam. Say, where's your fighter, I was lookin' for a bit of a scrap with him."

Lance walked forward, "I'm Lance Traydor, and this is the Shield Gundam of the Earth team. If you're looking for a fight, I'd be willing to oblige you."

Chandler looked over Lance carefully, trying to determine if he was telling the truth. "Well, I doubt I'll get much of a brawl from you, but I'll entertain you for a while. Rise Joey Gundam!!!"

With the command spoken, a tan-colored Gundam burst out of its hiding spot under the ground. It had a strange appearance in it's legs, but Lance decided to ignore it and turned to head towards his Gundam but stops short from running into Kim. After the two looked into each other's eyes for a while, Kim gave a smiling nod and dashed for the command truck, allowing Lance to climb up into the cockpit.

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Kim entered the command truck just in time to see everyone scrambling franticly to get to their stations. She hurried to her own seat and slipped on her headset, powering up the monitor at the same time. Gregory was already fast at work on his end, checking the Gundam's weaponry status. Once Kim's monitor was active, she started a run-through of all the systems, which checked out green. Max finally made his appearance in the truck, cursing Lance for starting a match before he was ready.

"Alright, let's make sure this one goes smoother than the last one, alright Lance?" Max commented over his headset to the Shield Gundam

"Roger that," Lance replied, "Greg, those weapons had better be working this time, or I'm coming after you with the Gundam next."

"Don't worry, you're all charged up and ready to go." Gregory replied, beaming an almost visible pride. Lance scoffed at his words and turned his attention to the enemy fighter finally making his Gundam move. Normally if it takes that long to start up the Mobile Trace System, it means the pilot hasn't had much training with it. Lance shook his head and adopted his fighting stance. "You ready to get things started, Aussie?"

"Ready anytime, mate, Gundam Fight ready…."

"GO!!!" The Shield Gundam dashed forward to attack the Joey Gundam, however, the Joey's leg suddenly came up and delivered a lightning-fast kick to the Shield's skull, knocking it backwards and onto the ground.

"The hell?!" Lance exclaimed as he got to his feet, still woozy from the hit he just took. He knew there was something weird about the legs, they're designed almost similar to a kangaroo's, just with a little extra human feature within them. So not only were it's fists dangerous, it's legs were as well. This already wasn't in his favor. Lance shrugged off his doubt and drew his beam saber, charging forward once again. He swung viciously, only to cut dead air as the Joey had already jumped clear due to its fast reflexes. Lance continued on the attack, slashing towards the opponent's neck, only to miss blatantly and receive a boot under the jaw as a reward.

"Damn, this guy's fast…." Lance makes it back to his feet once more, staring down the Joey Gundam.

"What's wrong, mate? Can't keep up?" The Joey taunted, causing Lance to fume more profusely than before. Lance returned the beam saber to it's rack and whipped out the beam pistols. He unloaded a barrage of fire on the Joey, which dodged every blast with near expert precision. Lance growled furiously as he switched the pistols to combo mode and created a beam rifle.

"Lance, be careful, the magazine's energy consumption doubles in that mode, you'll only have a few shots with it." Gregory warned over the speaker.

"I know that!" Lance shot back as he fired a beam of pinkish-purple energy at the Joey, which didn't even graze it. The Joey continued to bound in a circle around the Shield Gundam, almost in a taunting pace, which raised Lance's anger higher.

"Still can't keep up, mate?" Chandler spoke again over the Joey's speaker, "Here, why don't I bring the fight to you." The Joey rushed forward to the surprise of Lance, who had barely enough time to block one of it's lightning-fast punches. He brought up his beam rifle for a close-range attack, but that was swiftly knocked out of his hands as well as a blow to the chest at the same time. The Shield staggered back after taking that much abuse, with the Joey still hopping around with it's fists up in a boxer's stance.

"Damn, I can't keep up with him…" Lance admitted to himself as he held his chest, still aching from the blow he took. The Joey's speed was much higher than the Shield's, as well as it's attack power. He knew it's defense couldn't amount to much, but he couldn't get in close enough for an attack.

"So, giving up? How about I finish you now." The Joey reached back and withdrew two boomerang-like weapons. He launched them forward, and the boomerangs gained a pinkish-color edge which could only mean one thing, beam edges. Lance reacted quickly, bringing up the arms and activating the shields, which blocked the boomerangs and sent them flying off like they were nothing.

"Impressive, I've never seen a defense like that," Chandler commented to the Shield Gundam, "Let's see how much it can take." The Joey flipped gauntlets over it's fists and rushed forward throwing a hard right jab. Lance brought up the left hand shield and blocked it, but the Joey maintained it's pressure on the shield.

"Lance, you can't keep that up!" Max exclaimed over the comm line.

"Why?" Lance asked curiously, but as soon as he asked, his left forearm felt like it was burning. He turned forward and saw the Shield Gundam's armguard billowing out smoke from underneath. The Joey saw this as well and increased the amount of pressure, which shorted out the shield in a few seconds and landed his punch directly into the Shield's hand.

"What happened?!" Lance yelled over the comm line as he tried to disable the Joey's right hand.

"The arm shields can't stand to maintained pressure on the shield. After a while, they'll start to short out." Max explained.

"You could've told me that sooner!" Lance snapped, but his attention was brought off the comm as his chest flared up when the Joey's left caught him there. He released the right, giving the Joey exactly what it wanted.

"Now you'll learn what true power is, mate. Kanga Fist Flurry!" The Joey unleashed a barrage of punches on the Shield Gundam, jarring it and Lance around. The finish came quick as the Joey planted it's right into the Shield Gundam's left shoulder, spinning it around, allowing the Joey to plant both of it's feet into the Shield's back with a dropkick. The Shield Gundam hit the ground hard and face first, causing Lance to fall against the forward portion of the cockpit. The feeling of the punches was still there, not seeming to fade away with time, and Lance's whole body ached because of it. Every time Lance tried to get at least to his knees, the pain brought him back down to the ground.

"I can't do this; it's just too much…." Lance mumbled to himself, slowly giving in to defeat. The comm line flared with voices, telling him to get up, but to Lance, they seemed far away. His consciousness seemed to float over the past year, his time on the West Coast, the tournament he entered, and his entry to the Gundam Fight. Everything was flashing before him as he slowly started to drift off.

_"Don't give up!"_

The suddenness of the voice brought him back to attention, as he began to remember the promise he made earlier.

_"We're all trying our best to get the Shield Gundam working to it's best, all we can ask of each other is to give it our best."_

Lance put his hands against the ground as he began to push himself up, feeling new strength flowing within him.

_"…if you never give up, then neither will we…"_

"Yeah… never give up." Lance commented to himself as he rose off his knees, still swaying slightly from the pain of the last attack. The Joey Gundam stepped back in surprise as the Shield Gundam rose, no one had every gotten up after that attack. It backtracked almost in fear, because suddenly he felt he was facing a demon.

"I… won't lose…." Lance commented over his speaker, breathing heavily. "I can't… lose, not to… you… or anyone else!!!" The Shield Gundam rushed forward, ready to take down the Joey once and for all.

"We'll see about that, mate! Outback Knuckle!" The Joey threw it's left forward, it's gauntlet flaring with beam energy over the top of it. The Shield brought it's right hand forward, which began to have a silver-green glow. At the same time, it's faceplate opened up, activating the Gundam's Battle Mode.

"Look at that, Max, is that…?" Kim said in awe, staring at the Shield Gundam's right hand.

"It is!" Max exclaimed, "I can't believe it, he did it, he activated the…."

"SHINING FINGER!!!" Lance yelled as he thrust his glowing hand forward, connecting on the Joey's Outback Knuckle. At first, the two attacks seemed to have even footing, then the gauntlet on the Joey exploded, followed by it's forearm then it's upper arm as the Shining Finger pushed it's way through until it finally grasped the Joey's head. The attack's momentum was so sudden that it caused the Joey Gundam to collapse backwards, which the Shield Gundam's glowing hand still latched on the it's head.

"This can't be!" Chandler exclaimed as his systems in his cockpit began to short out. "You're supposed to be finished!"

"I told you…" Lance replied slowly, "I'm not gonna lose…. As for you, consider yourself… disqualified!" Lance increased the grip on the Joey's head, which crushed it instantaneously with a following explosion. Once the sound of battle subsided, everyone watched the Shield Gundam in awe as it stood victorious on the battlefield. The Shield Gundam brought up it's hand up into it's eyesight. He got a few seconds of view before the joints extended and released bursts of steam, returning the Gundam's hand to it's regular color. It's faceplate closed soon afterwards, returning the Shield Gundam to it's normal appearance.

"I won… I can't… believe…." Lance was unable to complete his sentence as he fell forward into unconsciousness, though the Gundam only dropped to one knee.

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"That was incredible!" Max exclaimed in the Lance's face, which brought a grimace across his features, since his head was still ringing from the fight.

"Yeah, I know, I never saw that finish coming…" Lance commented quietly. His attention soon turned towards Max. "So, how did you do it? How'd you activate the Shining Finger?"

Max looked perplexed, "We didn't activate it, you did."

"So tell us, man, how'd you do it? How'd you get the Shining Finger to activate?" Gregory asked excitedly.

"No idea…."

Gregory and Max shot a look of confusion at each other, then at Lance. "You don't… know?" Max asked.

"Nope, just know it happened." Lance replied. Max growled at the response, mad that it wasn't the only he was wanting. He stormed off to the storage area to assist with repairs to the Shield Gundam. Gregory followed soon after, disappointed that the mystery wasn't solved after all. Only Kim remained, who continued to look at Lance, only not with confusion.

"I'm glad you won, Lance, it was looking bad out there for a long time…." She said, breaking the brief silence.

"Yeah, but you helped me out." Lance replied, which brought a confused look to Kim's face. Lance chuckled at his face before continuing. "The promise we made, that was what carried me through. Remember?"

Kim's face beamed as she nodded acknowledgment. She moved over to where she was sitting next to Lance and looked him in the eye. "Now you finally have time to answer me, why did you join the Gundam Fight?"

After a bit of thinking, Lance returned her gaze and grinned, "I… like working here."

Kim's face turned to a sarcastic disgust, "That's it?"

"Yep."

Kim stuck her tongue out at Lance and punched him lightly on the shoulder before starting to head into the storage area. She stopped at the door and turned back to Lance.

"I hope you'll tell me the true reason someday…."

"Only if you tell me yours," Lance returned, at which Kim smiled and proceeded through the door.


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

"Alright, Lance, we'll try this _one_ more time, try to activate the Shining Finger." Max said slowly into the comm, trying to contain his anger and frustration on the current situation. It had been decided that they were going to stay in Australia until the Shining Finger had been figured out, much to dismay of most of the crew. Some were wanting out of the area, while most everyone else was wanting to move on to the next fight and see what miracles this team could pull off next. Lance was equally frustrated, mainly because this meant more work for him. He thrust his hand onto the mountainside they were using for training, but the attack still wasn't coming through.

"Max, I've lost count of how many times we've attempted this, and it's just not coming through. How about we call it a day?" Lance offered through the comm, only to be shot down by Max.

"We need to figure the Shining Finger out, even if it takes the whole Preliminary Round to find out!" Max lashed out, only bringing a counter-retort from Lance. "You want to get in here and attempt this! I'm sure I could get it to work if I could kick your ass with it!" For a little while, Max and Lance provide a slight amount of entertainment with back-and-forth insults of ever-increasing ferocity.

"If this keeps up, we're gonna need some popcorn," Gregory mused with Kim, who returned his joke with a quiet smile before deciding to stop the feuding. "As much as we appreciate the break from this, guys," Kim finally commented both over the comm and aloud in the truck, "We need to figure this out quickly so we'll have a better chance in the fight. None of us really want to stay here, so the sooner this happens, the sooner we get out. Agreed?" The only answer she received was an aggravated grunt over the comm and an audible growl in the truck. She sighed slightly at the childish responses between the two before continuing, "Look, Lance, the sooner we figure this out, the sooner we can leave. You're not the only one working on this, we're all here working it out too."

"I know that," Lance shot back grumpily, "It's just frustrating that this isn't working…"

"Well, try thinking back for a second, what did you do during the last fight that could've activated it?" Kim returned in a rough tone, causing Lance to stop short on retorting since he never heard that tone from her. He started thinking back on the previous fight just before the finish, remembering getting his butt kicked by the Joey Gundam and dropping to the ground. After that, it was a blur of emotion and explosions so there wasn't much to remember that he hadn't already tried.

"Maybe it's when I took that beating. I might have to be in a desperate situation in order to activate it," Lance mumbled to himself in thought. "That's a little hard to simulate, but I'll give it a try." Lance closed his eyes and started to concentrate on a future fight. He pictured the Hombre… or was it the Joey… or the Joeombre. Lance chuckled to himself as he pictured a crossover of the Hombre and Joey Gundam until the comm flared up with Max wondering what was so damn funny. Turning back to seriousness, he focused on the opponent's ultimate attack heading for him with little time to react. Instinctively bringing his arm back, Lance's eyes flashed open, "Alright, here goes, Shining Finger!"

The Shield Gundam's hand thrust forward, this time putting enough momentum behind it to go straight through. The crew watched with awe and waited to see the Shield Gundam pull out its silver hand. Instead, disappointment ran through as the normal hand was withdrawn quickly and shaken like he had just punched through 8 bricks with 2 left over.

"Damn, thought I had it this time." Lance commented, still shaking his hand to rid the pain he felt through the Mobile Trace. He looked over at the mountain just in time to see the top half break off from where his hand went through.

"Great!" Max exclaimed in anger, throwing his hands up in defeat. "Now our practice mountain is ruined. Fine, we're done for today!"

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Lance continued to sit within the Shield Gundam long after he had successfully put it back in the docking bay. His mind wandered over the Fight, as was usual since he had started this whole ordeal. He was almost certain that they didn't belong in this fight, cause both victories thus far had been won on luck. He wasn't even sure how the Shining Finger, this suit's ultimate weapon, worked and that could be nothing but trouble in the long run. His thought process was cut short as the cockpit door hissed open and Gregory's head poked over from the side.

"Hey man, what's going on?" He asked with a grin before getting into the cockpit. Once inside, he stretched his arms out and looked around. "Huh, bigger than I imagined, I guess you need this kind of room in the cockpit to pull off moves."

"You need something?" Lance interjected, trying to either get a point through or get him out.

"Just seeing what was going on, you seem to get lost in your own thoughts lately." Gregory explained, only bringing a scoff out from Lance. "I know Kim's usually the one to give pep talks, but she's busy with some coding and I had some free time." He continued on, and then grinned as he added, "Sorry I can't provide you the same 'service' as she could." Lance threw a slow punch at Gregory's face, allowing him more than enough time to dodge, then both started laughing at the last comment. Lance's laugh faded the fastest as his thoughts on the fight returned.

"Hey Greg, what do you think our chances are in this Gundam Fight?"

His eyes hit the ground when the topic came up, "I don't know, we're going up against guys who have done this for years. This is Earth's first attempt to enter the Gundam Fight, because no one in the past has bothered to build a Gundam to fight. I don't even know if anyone really can other than the colonies."

"Yeah, Max is the only one who's bothered to do something about it, but we really did was take the Shining Gundam and fix it. But over three-fourths of its capabilities are locked away." Lance added on.

"Yeah, that's also something that takes our chances down further. All honesty, I'm surprised we've made it this far with what we're working with. I mean, we're taking on people who know Gundams, with something we can barely figure out." Gregory sighs as he looks around the cockpit.

"So, do we stand a chance in making it to the finals?"

"Dunno, all we can do is take this roller coaster to the end, right?"

"Yeah, you're right."

"Hey!" Max's voice cut in over the conversation. "If you two are done with you male bonding, we need in there to work on the internal systems!"

"Yeah, yeah, we'll get out!" Lance shot back, as both he and Gregory left the cockpit.

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"Okay Lance, a new day and another test run, you ready?" Kim asks over the comm. The Shield Gundam nods slightly as it rises from the docking bay.

"We don't want to destroy this mountain, try to make this one last, okay?!" Max shouts out over the comm, which surprisingly did not get a retort from Lance. Max and Kim look at each other in confusion. "Are you alright, Lance?" Kim asks, trying to find out why he didn't talk back. "_Sorry,_" came the reply over the comm system, "_Just have a lot on my mind right now._" The Shield Gundam raises it hand in front it's face as Lance begins to concentrate on the Shining Finger.

"I've got to do this… I must do this." Lance whispers to himself, trying to find a way to motivate the ultimate attack out. He closes his eyes but his thoughts continue to push, _I will not lose, I will not lose…_ Suddenly, the Shield's faceplate opens up and power begins to flow in the right hand. Lance's eyes snap open and he thrusts his hand forward. "Here goes, Shining Fin--" Lance suddenly stops and the faceplate closes as a warning signal comes up from his left side. Jumping back quickly, he narrowly avoids a beam shot that would've taken his head out.

"Damn, I was hoping I could take you out without getting dirty." A voice echoed from behind a pair of mountains. Soon after, a Gundam wearing a cloak steps out from behind, holding a beam cannon.

"Who do you think you are?" Lance yelled over his external speaker.

"I'm the Gundam Fighter from Neo Tasmania; my name is of no importance to someone like you! You defeated my ally, now you will feel the wrath of my Exile Gundam!" The Gundam throws its cloak aside revealing a Gundam similar in appearance to the Joey, but without the kangaroo features and heavier armor.

"Fine, I'll fight you and take you down just like the Joey," Lance yelled back, putting himself into fighting position, "Gundam Fight, ready?"

The Exile points his cannon forward and fires, only afterward saying "Go". Even with the late start, the Shield Gundam jumped out of the way and drew itsit's beam saber, charging in to finish it off quickly. The Shield slashes at the Exile's arm holding the beam cannon, but the Exile dodges to save the arm at the cost of the cannon. A barely audible "damn" came from the Exile as it threw the cannon before it exploded. Lance shifted his swing midway and arcs it towards where the Exile dodged, lightly cutting it along the faceplate. The Exile staggers back from the attack and draws a beam pistol, even though the continued attack from the Shield Gundam removes it almost immediately.

"Damn it, who the hell are you?!" The Exile's pilot exclaims as he starts backing off while firing vulcans to keep the Shield at bay.

"Why should I tell you my name when I'm not worth yours?" Lance shoots back as he puts up his left shield to block the vulcan rounds. He charges forward to press the attack further, continuing to narrowly miss as the Exile dodges. Finally, the Neo-Tasmanian decides to go on the offensive as he throws a punch to the Shield's head, only to miss and leave an opening. The Shield swings it's beam saber just below the cockpit which receives an almost clean cut until the Exile boosts away in desperation.

"The hell, the armor seems weak there." Lance temporarily halts his attack to analyze the Exile with the sensors, finding that every joint area in the arms and below the cockpit have extremely light armor. Deciding he's found a weak spot, Lance steps up his attack, trying to focus on those light areas, bringing further dodging from the Exile. Finally, the Exile boosts away to gain some space and composure.

"Looks like I can't take it easy with you, can I?" The pilot asked as he brought the Exile's arms up across his chest. He ejects most of his heavy armor and the front part of his armguard opens up as two katars pop out, their edges glowing with energy. "Time to take things up a notch." With that, the Exile rushes forward and swings, narrowly missing the Shield Gundam.

"Damn, looks like he's gotten faster," Lance mumbles as he narrowly avoids the next couple of slashes from the Exile. He moves his beam saber up and parries one of the katars and draws his second beam saber to block the second. Both fighters continue to try and push the offensive, slashing at each other and parrying what they can. Finally, Lance finds a break in the attack, allowing him the slip behind and brings his beam saber up to the Exile's neck.

"Looks like you've lost, buddy," Lance comments smugly over his speaker.

"Not quite, I've still got a few tricks up my sleeve." After saying that, the Exile's midsection pops up, causing the upper body to spin and hitting the Shield Gundam along its side, launchingknocking it a about 20 yards away.

"The hell, what was that?" Lance asked, both to himself and to his opponent.

"That was the Exile's special ability; I could tell you noticed the weak armor around certain points. That hides my Gundam's ability to separate certain parts for added attack range. The midsection allows for a rotation effect, which increases my Gundam's attack power in that mode." After the explanation, every one of the joints the Exile mentioned separated out. "Now it's time to show you what my rotation mode can do! Tasmanian Twister!!" The Exile Gundam's upper body began to spin at a high velocity, with its arms flying at the same speed and at a much longer range due to their separation. Soon after, a tornado-like effect erupted from the ground as the velocity increased, also drawing in dust from where the Shield was standing.

"A vacuum effect?" Lance half asked and half noted, planting his feet to avoid the slight draw he was feeling from the Exile. He knew this was the Exile's finisher, but he knew so long as the Exile stayed where it was and likewise with himself, he was safe. However, the two staying where they were wasn't going to bring the fight any closer to a close, so he decided to go on the offensive. Sheathing the beam sabers, Lance withdrew the beam pistols, pointing both towards the Exile's head. _This should work, the beams should be able to punch through the wind and destroy the head. _Lance thought to himself as he pulled the triggers, firing both shots at the temple of the Exile. However, upon connecting with the wind shear, both beams were dragged along with the wind and shot out the back.

"What the?! Maybe it needs more power behind it!" The Shield set the pistols to combo mode and formed the beam rifle, pointing it forward and firing. However, the rifle shot did the exact same as the pistol shots.

"Damn it, what the hell's happening, looks like I'm gonna have to get in close to finish the job," Lance comments as he separates the pistols and holsters them, afterwards drawing a beam saber and charging the spinning Exile. The Shield plants it's feet so it's clear of the Exile's whipping arms and swings it's saber, whose beam starts dragging along the wind shear, but not quite being pulled away. The Exile's spin starts to slow as the katars connect against the saber, creating drag. However, the Exile's pilot laughs at the attempt to slow him.

"What's so damn funny?!" Lance yelled over his comm, trying to get an answer. Once the Tasmanian stops laughing, he replies, "Because this isn't even the full extent of the Twister, I'm only currently running at half speed. Thanks to me ejecting my armor earlier, I have access to the full potential. Here goes, Hyper Twister!!!"

Lance could hear the speed of the Exile increasing, creating more drag on the beam saber, "Crap, I need to get away from here." The Shield trys to withdraw its saber, but the increased shear makes pulling even the beam away impossible.

"Damn it, I've got to get outta here!" Finally, the shear becomes strong enough to drag the beam saber out of the Shield's hands but weak enough to allow the Shield Gundam to thrust away to safety. He lands well out of range before the wind becomes strong enough to start dragging the Shield to certain doom. Lance plants his feet to avoid being dragged in and watches the handle of his beam saber being whipped around in the Exile's tornado.

"Damn it, this attack is hell. Don't know how long I can withstand it." Lance comments about his position, digging his feet in further to prevent the increased pull, though the Shield Gundam's feet continue to drag towards the funnel. _Damn it, nothing works… I've got to do something!_ Lance thinks to himself, but his attention soon is drawn by a scream coming through his comm. He turns his head to the command truck, his eyes fare open as he sees the truck being dragged towards the funnel as well. Suddenly, the truck lifts off the ground and starts flying towards the Exile.

"NO!" Lance yells, thrusting the Shield Gundam into the path of the truck, causing it to draw closer to the Exile's blades and the truck to slam into his back. The Shield lurches forward, bringing it even closer, but recovers in time to stop moving.

"I've got to do something! That attack is too dangerous to everything in the area." Lance's eyes shine with new determination and power once again flows into his right hand. "I've got to put an end to this, I must win!!!" As if on cue with Lance's exclamation, the Shield's faceplate opens up and it rushes forward into the tornado.

"Accepting your demise, fine, I shall grant it to you."

"Lance, what the hell are you doing?" Max yells into the comm, which receives no reply. Lance continues to rush in, bringing his left arm forward and activating the shield within the Exile's arm path. With the block in place, the arm comes to a halt on the shield, whipping the second arm around helplessly. The Exile's gears began to grind, trying to continue its revolutions.

"If you're trying to stop me, you won't succeed; I know the flaw in your shields." The Exile reconnects to arm stopped on the shield, increasing pressure and causing smoke to come up from the armguard.

"I was trying to stop you," Lance admits with a grin, "but it was also a diversion."

"What?!"

Lance grins as he lets his right hand come into view, which is glowing a silver-green. "Here I go, Shining Finger!" Lance thrust the Shield's hand forward, latching onto the Exile's head. The gears in the midsection stop grinding as the pilot's focus is lost to the pain he feels.

"It can't be, how… how can you be this strong?!" The Exile's pilot near screamed as the Exile's head started to be crushed.

"It's simple; I have the desired to defeat you, at all costs. That is my power and the power of the Shield Gundam. Now, you're finished." With that said, Lance increased the Shining Finger's grip, crushing the Exile's head and causing an explosion that toppled it over. With the fight over, Lance brought the Shining Finger into view once again. "The desire to win, so that's how you do it, huh?" Letting his feelings slide, the Shield Gundam returns to it's normal appearance.

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After the fight, Lance stayed inside the Shield Gundam to help get the truck back to an upright position. The other trucks were relatively unharmed due to seeking shelter as soon as the attack was activated.

"And you guys didn't why?" Lance asked over the comm.

"Max didn't want to leave until the last second," Kim commented back, "he was worried you might 'damage his baby.'"

"Enough about that, you activated the Shining Finger again, didn't you?" Max was obviously excited, and not hiding it well. "Did you figure it out this time?"

"Yeah, I've got it now. We shouldn't have any more problems with it." Lance looked out towards the sun setting in the west, letting himself think for a few seconds.

"Well, come on, let's get out of here. There's still plenty of time in the Survival Eleven, let's knock some more competitors." Max shouted gleefully in the truck, bringing cheers for the crew. Once they had loaded everything up, the Earth team moved on to the next challenge.

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"No, please don't kill me!" The Neo-Tasmanian pilot was down on his knees in front of a man in a black cloak holding a .45 to his skull.

"Defeated pilots have no use for us, you're better off."

"No, wait, I'll—." His voice was cut off by a bullet being shot through his skull. His now lifeless body slumps to the ground and another man steps forward.

"It's done?"

"Yes, we have exterminated the Neo-Australia and the Neo-Tasmanian since their use has expired."

"Good." The man looked off towards where the Earth team had vanished and his brow knit with worry. "That pilot, he has the power of the Shining Gundam, one of the strongest units in the last fight."

"Correct, sir, he may be a problem if he's allowed to continue in the fight. His potential can only go up."

"Yes, but they're heading into our sniper's territory. They shouldn't make it out of there alive."

"Yes, sir, I will contact the sniper and tell them about the Earth team."

The second man nods, allowing the first to leave. He continues to stare out at the tire tracks of the Earth team's truck. "Lance Traydor, who would have though a Earth fighter would be so much of a threat to our goals…"


End file.
